National Phase Entry in the United States

Oppenhuizen Law can assist you with U.S. National Phase Entry, direct filings, or legal counsel and assistance with any pending U.S. applications. Oppenhuizen Law understands that the most important qualities you are looking for in a U.S. associate are reliability, prompt service, and competitive pricing. It is also our goal to give you clear and straightforward flat fee prices that you can quote to your client.

Please notify Oppenhuizen Law at least two weeks in advance of the 30-month deadline to allow us to conduct a check for conflict of interest. This will also give us time to obtain signed documents from the applicant that will be necessary to avoid late-filing surcharge fees.

No attorney/client relationship will be formed until we have received payment (for new clients) and confirmed that we will represent you in filing the patent application.

Filing Deadline – 30 Months

The deadline for National Stage Entry in the United States is 30 months.

If this due date was missed either unintentionally or unavoidably, then the application can still be filed with a petition to revive the application. (See MPEP § 1893.02) Please contact Oppenhuizen Law to discuss your specific circumstances and to determine the cost for filing the petition.

What is Required?

The following items are required for filing the patent application in order to secure the filing date and avoid any late fees:

The PCT application number or the International (WO) publication number

Payment to Oppenhuizen Law for its service fee of $700 plus the official fees (see below for more details)

You must inform Oppenhuizen Law whether the applicant is a large entity, small entity, or micro entity

We can advise you if you are not sure

The USPTO requires a signed Certification of Micro Entity Status if the applicant is a micro entity

A Declaration or Oath signed by each inventor

Optionally, a set of amended claims (or instructions to Oppenhuizen Law for preparing a basic set of amended claims)

A claim fee surcharge will be incurred if the patent application has more than 3 independent claims, more than 20 claims total, or any multiple dependent claims. Therefore, a preliminary amendment must be filed along with the patent application if you wish to avoid these fees. You can send a set of amended claims to Oppenhuizen Law, or you can request Oppenhuizen Law to prepare any claim amendments necessary to avoid these fees. There is no additional service charge from Oppenhuizen Law if the amendments are made only to avoid the additional claim fees.

The following items are also needed, but can be filed after the National Phase Entry date. No late fee will be incurred. However, whenever possible we still request you provide us with the following when we file the patent application:

A patent assignment transferring ownership from the inventor(s) to the applicant if the applicant is not the inventor(s)

A Power of Attorney to Oppenhuizen Law

Notify Oppenhuizen Law of all known prior art, and particularly any prior art cited in a foreign priority application (no need to identify prior art in the PCT search report as Oppenhuizen Law will locate that information on its own)

United States National Phase Entry Costs

Oppenhuizen Law’s service fee for National Stage Entry is US $700. This service fee also includes preparing and filing an Information Disclosure Statement with the USPTO and recording any ownership assignments with the USPTO.

The official fees are $1,580 for a large entity, $790 for a small entity, and $395 for a micro entity. These fees include the Basic National Stage Fee, the Search Fee, and the Examination Fee.

The official fees will be reduced if the U.S. was the International Search authority, or if the PCT Written Opinion indicates that the claims satisfy PCT Article 33(1)-(4). If these circumstances apply to you, then please contact Oppenhuizen Law to find out the official fee for your client’s application. Be sure to notify Oppenhuizen Law that your client qualifies for a reduced official fee.

A late fee will be incurred if the oath or declaration is filed after the application is filed. The late fee is $160 for a large entity, $80 for a small entity, and $40 for a micro entity.

If you are a new client of Oppenhuizen Law, then Oppenhuizen Law must receive advance payment from you in order to file the patent application.

Oppenhuizen Law charges in U.S. funds and accepts payment via PayPal®, wire transfer or credit card.

How to Enter the U.S. National Phase with Oppenhuizen Law

To enter the U.S. national phase with Oppenhuizen Law, please send an email to info@oppenhuizen.com with the PCT application number, the deadline due date, and your contact details.

Please also identify whether the applicant is a large entity, small entity, or micro entity so that we can confirm the official fees due. We will respond within one business day to confirm if we are able to represent you and your client in filing the patent application. We will also provide payment information at that time.

Once we have received payment, we will then provide you with any forms that need to be signed by the applicant and inventors and begin preparing the patent application for filing.

Why Use Oppenhuizen Law?

Oppenhuizen Law provides service that is fast, reliable, and cost efficient. At Oppenhuizen Law you will work directly with David Oppenhuizen, not a junior associate like you would at a large law firm. David Oppenhuizen has been practicing law as a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney since 2006, and was first admitted to practice before the USPTO as an agent in 2005.

David Oppenhuizen obtained his law degree from Michigan State University’s College of Law with a certified specialization in Intellectual Property. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University, which is consistently ranked as a top Mechanical Engineering program by U.S. News and World Report. He also has six years of engineering experience which give him an advantage in understanding technology to help him craft arguments before the USPTO.

Oppenhuizen Law can provide its services at a lower price than larger firms because its overhead and operating costs are much lower than a larger firm.

Oppenhuizen Law is committed to providing the best service it can to its associates with the goal of developing long-term relationships. To achieve that goal, Oppenhuizen Law only uses its network of foreign associates for filing foreign applications for its own clients.